


A Welcome Respite

by Megane



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bonding, Cooking, Deaf Character, Family, Family Feels, Friendship, Male Friendship, Medicinal Drug Use, Other Characters Are Mentioned, Sign Language, Stress Relief, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:09:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11591691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: Noctis, son of Insomnia's ambassador, endures a lot of stress. Thankfully, he has people in his life who can make him feel, at least, a little better.





	A Welcome Respite

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about this since Kingsglaive. I just can't get it out of my mind.

        “Ow!”

Noctis’ head snapped forward as soon as something sharp came in contact with the back of his head. He groaned softly in pain, and there was a slap of something landing on his desk. He stayed still for a moment. The headache he already had brewing pulsed angrily in his head. He sighed long and slow through his nose. When the headache subsided, he opened his eyes carefully. On his desk just to the right, there was a dossier with a leather band wrapped around it. The dossier wasn’t thick, thankfully, but he wasn’t entirely in the mood for more work today. He looked over his shoulder towards the source of his added discomfort.

Nyx was standing diagonally to Noctis and was drinking out of a dark blue porcelain mug. He didn’t seem to notice that Noctis was staring at him; his current focus was on one of the posters adoring his cousin’s wall. Idly, Nyx reached up to adjust the hearing aid tucked in his left ear. Seeing this, Noctis whistled sharply to get the other male’s attention. Nyx turned his head. He raised his brows curiously.

        “What?” Noctis snapped with a huff.

        “ _Your dad wants you to read these new reports.”_

        Noctis scowled and raised his right hand, which had a pen cradled between thumb and palm. “Ignis just gave me some reports this morning,” he grumbled as he signed irritably.

Nyx made a face and stepped closer. Noctis watched as his cousin approached and then turned to face the arrays of paper spread out on his dark wood desk. He heard the soft _clack_ of a mug touch down near the dossier. A question mark was drawn against his left shoulder.

 _What’s wrong?_ the action asked.

         _“Headache,”_ Noctis gestured. _“And you hit me with the…”_ He took in a deep breath to calm himself and continued with, _“…with the stupid dossier.”_

        Nyx cicked his tongue softly and reached a hand up into Noctis’ hair, ruffling it fondly. _Sorry_.

        Noctis sighed and reached back, clapping his cousin on the wrist. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. He curled his fingers around Nyx’s wrist and then tugged the other male closer. “Come take a look at this.”

He wasn’t sure which spoke louder, his words or his actions, but soon, Nyx was leaning over him and staring down at the various documents as well. They were mostly silent as Nyx began reading the different papers. There was list of countries with active amnesty and another list of countries that were currently revising their amnesty policies. There was a graph obscured by the papers on top of it. One paper had different, colour coded handwriting in the margins. It was all a mess of information. Noctis himself had a sheet of paper in front of him with notes written down, and to his left, there was an open binder with its three rings snapped open, awaiting more paper.

Nyx combed through them all, trying to understand each sheet. He’d silently gesture with one he didn’t understand, and Noctis would explain it half-heartedly. As this went on, Noctis leaned over to his left, cradling his face in his hand. He frowned deeply. A sharp, sudden pulse sparked over his temple, and the pain crept over towards his left eye. He pressed his nose against his palm and sighed deeply. He felt miserable.

        “Do you have any aspirin?” he grumbled. Silence hung in the air. Paper shifted, and Noctis turned his head towards Nyx, who he stared at through barely opened eyes. “Nyx,” he said firmly. Nyx perked up immediately. “Aspirin.”

        Nyx reached up to adjust his hearing aid once again as he mouthed, “Bathroom.”

Noctis grunted his thanks and pushed back in his chair. Nyx stepped out of the way; Noctis stood up from his chair and began stretching as he walked away. Bathroom, thank god. He headed out of his bedroom, turned to the left, and—

The doorbell rang.

Noctis scoffed before staring at the door. He slowly began moving towards the bathroom door. He clicked on the light and began looking for a bottle of aspirin. _Bim-bim_. The doorbell rang again, and Noctis ignored it. He pulled open one of the side draws and huffed in relief when he found the aspirin. It didn’t take him long to open the bottle, turn on the tap, and take a couple of pills. He scooped up water to swallow the pills down with. Augh. The water tasted metallic, and the after taste was even worse. He made a face and recapped the bottle of pills. He left them on the counter to the right of the sink.

He clicked the light off. Okay. Now, who the hell was at the door? He trudged to the front, hoping over the single step as he went. When he opened the door, he saw a friendly familiar face smiling at him.

        “Hey, Noct!” Prompto said cheerfully. He lifted up a couple of plastic bags. “Look what I brought!”

Noctis stared at Prompto, down to the plastic bags, and then grunted. He turned away from the door, leaving it open for Prompto to follow if he wanted. Of course, as he walked away, he heard the second set of footsteps right behind him.

        “What’s wrong?” Prompto asked, clicking the front door closed before locking it.

        “Headache.”

        “Oooh.”

        “Just took some medicine though.” Noctis reached up to rub his eyes. “Just took something though. Pretty sure it’s gonna knock me out.”

        “Probably,” Prompto replied with a laugh. “Hey, I’m gonna put these down.”

Another grunt. Noctis wasn’t entirely in the mood for socialising. Augh, yeah, that medicine was kicking in already. He headed back to his room. Nyx had stacked up all of the papers and was drinking from his mug again. He was also writing something. He looked incredibly studious, and Noctis would have teased him for it if he had the willpower.

        Nyx glanced over mid-drink towards Noctis. He lowered his mug and pointed in the direction of the front door. _Who's at the door?_

        Noctis lifted his left hand and fanned his fingers out behind his head. _Prompto._

Ah, Nyx mouthed as he set his mug down. Without word, silent or otherwise, Noctis walked over to his bed and flopped face down on top of it. He groaned softly. The flop made his head jostle a little, but when he settled, he could feel that the painful pulsation was now only a dull throbbing. He could live with this. Oh absolutely. He reached over to tug one of his pillows closer. He pressed his face against the pillow and nuzzled himself closer. He could hear Nyx writing and the occasional soft tap of the mug coming in contact with the wooden desk.

Just as he was falling into the gentle lull of sleep, he felt the bed dip beside him, and suddenly, there was another body pressed against his. He hummed curiously but didn’t open his eyes.

        “Wha…?” he began, his voice trailing off into a soft whisper.

        “How ya feeling?”

        Noctis frowned. “You’re warm…”

        “S’hot outside.” Prompto’s smile was so audible, even in his whispered voice.

        A soft grunt. Noctis reached over and pat Prompto’s face. “I’m fine.”

        Prompto laughed against his palm before pulling it away. “You look like you’re ready to fall asleep.”

        Noctis smiled weakly. “Ya think?”

        “Right…”

A moment passed and then Prompto sat up, leaving Noctis to rest on his bed without interruption. Noctis opened his eyes slowly and watched Prompto for a moment. The blond waved to get Nyx’s attention. Noctis blinked slowly as the silent conversation began. Every now and again, he would close his eyes and drift off for a couple of minutes. He stirred with a little noise. Looking now, he could see Nyx completely turned to face Prompto. The dossier was open in his lap.

         _“I guess I’m just worried,”_ Prompto mouthed. His sign language wasn’t the best, but he knew enough to gesture “worry” appropriately.

         _“About?”_ Nyx asked.

        Prompto paused and then motioned to the documents. _“This,”_ he signed. _“All of this…”_

Noctis frowned a little bit before turning the other way. He curled up, sighed in content, and fell back into his drug-induced rest. When he finally woke up, he was greeted by the thick, welcoming aroma of food. The rays of the setting sun were pouring in through his wall-length windows. He rolled onto his stomach, pushed up on his hands and stretched himself out. He felt something fall against his hand, which he jerked backwards instinctually. His plush carbuncle rolled closer towards his body; he stared at it in tired confusion.

Three knocks against his doorframe. Noctis looked over and saw Nyx standing there. His cousin rubbed his stomach soundlessly. The action conveyed only one question.

_Hungry?_

Noctis turned until he was sitting properly on the bed. He rubbed his face with both hands and sighed against his palms. Afterward, he dropped his hands into his lap and nodded slowly.

        “Yeah,” he said, voice dragging with sleep. He pushed up to his feet and walked closer to his cousin. Oh yeah. _“Did you move my carbuncle?”_

 _Yeah._ Nyx replied with a nod. He smirked as he added on with his hands, _“You just looked so cute. You needed something to snuggle up with.”_

        Noctis scoffed and pushed the other male away from him. “Fuck off,” he mumbled.

Nyx only laughed at the hostility. He reached over to wrap his arm around his cousin’s neck and squeezed the shorter male closer. Noctis groaned in displeasure, but he wasn’t completely there yet. Waking up left him a little dazed, and so, he let Nyx have his way because of that. Together, they walked away from Noctis’ door towards the kitchen. And it was then that the cogs started turning in Noctis’ mind.

 _“Wait. Who’s cooking?”_ he signed, mouth slightly opened in a confused frown.

        Nyx kept his arm around Noctis’ neck but used both hands as he replied back. _“Prompto is. I’m helping.”_

        “‘Helping,’” Noctis repeated, this time using his hands to form air quotes to punctuate his sarcasm.

Truth be told, Noctis hadn’t had a lot of food that Prompto made. Sure, there were a few dishes here and there, but outside of spaghetti and a couple of soups, Noctis couldn’t gauge Prompto’s cooking prowess, if there was any to be had. They stepped up towards the kitchen bar, which separated the open areas of the living room and kitchen. Prompto paused what he was doing before smiling to Noctis.

        “Mornin’, buddy. Or like…” He gave a little shrug and looked back to the pot of rice he was mixing up. “Whatever time it is.”

        “It’s… eight or something. I don’t know.” Noctis grabbed Nyx’s arm and looked at the watch strapped to the under side of his cousin’s wrist. “It’s 7:50.”

        “Still morning somewhere.”

        “What’re you making?”

        “Curry!” Prompto closed the rice cooker and set it to ‘warm'. “How much do you want?”

        “Enough. Just feed me until I fall into a coma.”

        “Back into one, you mean. Hey.” Prompto looked to Nyx and made a circular gesture with his spatula over the larger lidded pan. “How much?” he enunciated.

        “ _One bowl,”_ Nyx gestured before taking one of the bar stools for himself.

Prompto hummed in acknowledgement and then focused his attention on the food. There was the larger pan that was simmering the curry, and then there was a small saucepan and an uncovered skillet. Noctis leaned forward over the island counter, trying to peek into the skillet, but alas. It was the one furthest away from him, and he couldn’t see in. Oh well. At least everything smelled delicious.

        “Where’d you learn this from?” he asked, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath.

        “Ignis,” Prompto replied breezily. “But apparently, it was Cor’s recipe first. So.”

        “Seriously?”

There were two taps against his left elbow. He opened his eyes to see a sheet of paper with a five by five grid drawn on it. Two rows down and one column over, there was a circle drawn.

        “Really?” Noctis asked with a smile. He picked up the pen and twirled it between his fingers. Two columns over from the circle and one row down, he drew an X. He slid the paper back over to Nyx, who grabbed the pen, looked at the paper, and gave Noctis a flat look.

        “What?” Noctis laughed.

        Nyx sat back and signed, _“You always do this.”_

         _“Do what?”_

         _“Every– single– time we play. Two and one, you think I don’t notice?”_

        Noctis wasn’t doing it on purpose, but the sudden realisation was enough to make him continue. _“It’s like a pawn’s first move in chess.”_

        Nyx snorted a laugh. _“Look at you,”_ his movements teased, _“so refined playing_ chess _.”_

         _“I know; it’s not as high brow as tic tac toe.”_

Nyx laughed and turned his pen between his fingers thoughtfully. His grin lessened to a smile as he scanned the grid thoughtfully for his next placement. As Nyx thought over his battle plan, Prompto turned around, pulling his phone out of his pocket to respond back to a text message. Nyx glanced up to him, looked back to the paper, and finally drew a circle before sliding the sheet back. Noctis wasn’t as critical about the placement of his next X. He pushed the paper back back to Nyx, who grabbed the paper and then knocked on the counter in front of Prompto. When the blond looked up, Nyx silently asked,

         _“How much longer?”_

        “Uh…” Prompto checked the time on his phone before saying, “Thirty-five-ish minutes.” He tettered his right hand side to side.

Nyx made a moment and looked back to the paper underneath him. Noctis watched for a moment before looking over to his friend.

        “So, what brought you by?” he asked casually.

        Prompto shrugged a little. “Just wanted to see how you’re doing.” He rolled his thumbs against each other over his phone. He didn’t look up from his screen. “Something just told me to bring food along.”

 _I guess I’m just worried._ The memory played over in Noctis’ mind. He pressed his lips together and then nodded slowly.

        “Thanks,” he said instead, giving Prompto a little smile.

        The blond looked up and returned the smile with a small one of his own. “No problem.”

Nyx watched the two for a moment before sliding the sheet back over. Noctis took it and before he could make another mark, he noticed that there was writing underneath the grid.

_You’ve got good friends._

        Noctis huffed a laugh and then wrote a reply back to Nyx. _Guess I do._

        He slapped the pen down, slid it and the paper back over to his cousin. “Alright. I’m gonna load up something to watch while we wait. What’re you in the mood for?”

He pushed away from the bar stool and began towards the living room just behind him. Nyx made a soft noise, looking from Noctis to Prompto, who dutifully tried his best to sign the question. Noctis grabbed the remote and took in the two votes—Nyx for action, Prompto for stand up—as he loaded the on-demand streaming service.

He queued the two options before selecting a short parody kung fu movie, which was, of course, his choice. He felt it was a good combination of Nyx and Prompto’s votes, if anything. As the movie started, Noctis took a couple of steps backwards and sat on the couch. Nyx walked over and flopped down beside him. Not to be deterred, Prompto hurried over and dove on top of both of them, stretching out across their laps with a grin on his face.

        “Ah! I forgot my phone!” He sat up, reaching towards the island counter.

        “That’s what you _get_!” Noctis huffed as he pinned the blond down.

Nyx crossed his arms over Prompto’s thighs and leaned his weight down, effectively keeping Prompto in place as well. Prompto decidedly made himself comfortable, seeing as he had no real choice in the matter. The three of them watched the first half hour of the movie together. When Prompto’s phone alarm went off, he wriggled out of their grips to go take the food off the heat. Noctis pretended to lament his friend’s loss but soon sat back without any dramatics.

He crossed his arms loosely over himself and turned his attention to the mov— He huffed when Nyx’s feet landed in his lap instead. Noctis playfully glared at his cousin, who wasn’t paying him any mind now. He was scrolling throwing his phone. Nyx reached up to adjust his hearing aid without even so much as glancing in Noctis’ direction. Noctis sighed. He curled his fingers against Nyx’s legs, drumming out a nonsensical beat as he watched the movie.

The headache seemed like a far off memory now, even though it was there only a few hours ago. This was a nice break away from documents, political formalities, and the dreadful like. He smiled to himself as his fingers slowly stopped their rhythmic tapping. He still had a lot of reading ahead of him, of course—unfortunately—but he was happy for the chance to relax and forget his troubles for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted earlier than intended because busy(-ish) day tomorrow!


End file.
